18 January 2017

Pope Francis and papal power (2)

Joking aside, His Excellency Bishop Fellay would be less than human if he were not watching with some apprehension the papal onslaught upon the Order of Malta. The Franciscans of the Immaculate were, after all, a recent and vulnerable order. But ... aggressive interference in the affairs of the ancient and venerable Sovereign Order of Malta ... fortified as it is by centuries of jurisprudence and an international juridical status ...

We do not know what sort of offer is on the table for the SSPX. If it is robust enough so that the Society, were Rome subsequently to act in bad faith, could suspend the accord and resume its present de facto autonomy, then I cannot see that acceptance is too risky. What would have been lost? Much, potentially, could be gained.

But if the draft deal could enable a subsequent Pope to take the Society over in such a way as to expel most of the bishops and clergy from their altars and homes and to leave them bereft of the endowments given by the Faithful during nearly half a century, without churches and chapels and seminaries, back to Square One and saying Mass in garages and Scout Huts ... who could deny that an emergency situation truly existed?

There have been real examples of Roman bad faith in the past; one's mind goes back to the large Ruthenian formerly "uniate" communities in America, savagely driven into schism in their tens of thousands by factional and cultural bigotry. Some might even recall the deliberate weakening of the English Church by Papa Caraffa, in the pursuance of his maniacally hispanophobic policies, which made the 'Elizabethan Settlement' so much easier to accomplish. Not every pope has always been a big enough personality to be able to rise above the petty narrow-mindedness of his own decade and culture. And that is without taking account of the deliberately fissiparous policies encouraged by some of those who surround Papa Bergoglio.

And if, like the admirable figure of Papa Ratzinger, a pope is able to stand above the flux of public affairs, he is likely to find himself opposed by the noisy malevolence of the Wolves.

17 comments:

Yes - and the man pushing the war against Jesus' command on marriage has pronounced heresy. Kasper: "The God who sits enthroned over the world and history as a changeless being is an offense to man." (1972)

It is logical to assume Francis agrees with Kasper on this - which is why Kasper is his favorite theologian.

The status of the Order of Malta in international law is unclear. It has some degree of international legal personality but it is not generally regarded as being a sovereign State (I would say it quite obviously isn't). Anyway, its international legal status doesn't prevent its being made subject to an investigation by another body. The United Kingdom is a sovereign state which is regularly subjected to investigations by all sorts of external bodies and is subject to the jurisdiction of the ECJ.

The investigation is intra vires from the perspective of the Church, as the Pope's competence is general under canon law.

From the perspective of the Order, note first that the Boeselager camp have said that the Church's investigation was instigated by the Order itself, at an earlier point in the controversy. Beyond that, all one can say is that there are arguments both ways. They go to the question whether, if it comes down it, the investigation could enforce its purported investigatory powers and implement its conclusions via a competent court. This is the fundamental question that the various blog offerings on this matter come down to. However, as is so often the case, the basic legal question is probably not all that important for practical purposes. The Order is highly integrated with the Church and requires the Church's cooperation. It is highly unlikely to want to or be able to operate "outside" the Church. Leaving aside the legal question they can choose to cooperate or not cooperate. If the latter they play a dangerous game. One side will blink and I doubt it will be Pope Francis.

To answer a point raised below the line on your previous post, the International Court of Justice regards neither the Vatican nor the Order as being a State for the purposes of its jurisdiction, so there is no possibility of its intervention in this matter.

Father, ... I know you are sincere... and... and yet: I cannot find myself liking the phrase "driven into schism" any more than world-fashionable notion of poor husbands and wives being "driven into adultery".

As I said on FB, do the deal but keep legal title to the properties. Or, as Ronald Reagan said, trust but verify.

By the way, I am sure that you have seen our US Ordinary's letter on marriage, etc., confirming the traditional understanding in the case of the civilly divorced and remarried. My question is: what does that say about the power situation in Rome, that he must have thought he could get away with saying such orthodox things, without serious reprisal? Or does asking this question show that I have been Latin for too long?

Vince: Unhappily, we had no property. The Anglican Bishops made clear that they would rather bulldoze a church down than let the Ordinariate take it with them. And the edict went out that the Ordinariate was not even to be allowed to use a church on Sunday for rent. So we have been dependant upon the Catholic diocesan bishops to be generous. Even our 'Principal Church' is still legally a parish church of the Archdiocese of Westminster.

The main SSPX church in Paris is, of course, like nearly all French churches,owned by the French State, with the Society occupying and using it.

I am not close enough to the SSPX to know how their apostolates are organized under civil law, but some other groups seem to have the properties owned by nonprofit corporations, with boards of directors composed of laity and in some cases clerics. Some US dioceses are now set up that way as well, in those cases with the bishop's nominees composing a majority of the boards, so he maintains effective control, while providing episcopal services to the parish corporation under a services agreement. I think our US Ordinariate is heading that way, but again am not in the know on that.

Heh. If Bishop Fellay is keeping an eye on this Knights of Malta thing, imagine the apprehension in the ranks of Opus Dei. As I understand things, they elect their new prelate on January 26, but I also understand that the Pope does have the right of appointment. He could simply confirm the results of the election, but ... old men in a hurry.

A curious war is breaking out: first the Holy See versus the Order of Malta, then Kazakh bishops versus the Maltese episcopate; oddly, the Order of Malta is unlikely to side with the Maltese, whereas, alas, the Holy See has already given the nod to them.

I wonder if the next conclave will meet at the Vatican or on the Aventine...

The Knights of Malta whose history is interesting having been forced to leave Rhodes to avoid the threatened Turkish massacre of the inhabitants were given Malta by the Spanish Crown. As an example to us all they along with the brave Maltese defeated the Turks who landed on Malta. They also ruled territory in the Caribbean While Napoleon took the island on Malta on his way to invade Egypt the knights kept territory. Ihe King of Naples granted them refuge in his dominions. In the decades following their expulsion from Malta, the knights' administrative offices were established in Sicily (at Catania and Messina) until 1826. In 1834, following a sojourn at Ferrara, the Order established itself in Rome. The Grand Magistry is still located in Palazzo di Malta, in Via Condotti near the Piazza di Spagna, where it enjoys extraterritorial sovereignty as one of the three sovereign governments within Italian borders (the others being Vatican City and the Republic of San Marino). To this day, the Grand Master of the Order of Malta is styled His Most Eminent Highness. I maintain the Popes jurisdiction goes as far as it does in any country whose monarch is Catholic. If I recall correctly it was once custom that election as pope required the assent of the Holy Roman Emperor... the last Pope was Pius X and the Austrians tried to block his election. Francis needs to pull his head in and behave properly. Not set people up like a South American dictator who surrounds himself with cronies.

The Knights of Malta whose history is interesting having been forced to leave Rhodes to avoid the threatened Turkish massacre of the inhabitants were given Malta by the Spanish Crown. As an example to us all they along with the brave Maltese defeated the Turks who landed on Malta. They also ruled territory in the Caribbean While Napoleon took the island on Malta on his way to invade Egypt the knights kept territory. Ihe King of Naples granted them refuge in his dominions. In the decades following their expulsion from Malta, the knights' administrative offices were established in Sicily (at Catania and Messina) until 1826. In 1834, following a sojourn at Ferrara, the Order established itself in Rome. The Grand Magistry is still located in Palazzo di Malta, in Via Condotti near the Piazza di Spagna, where it enjoys extraterritorial sovereignty as one of the three sovereign governments within Italian borders (the others being Vatican City and the Republic of San Marino). To this day, the Grand Master of the Order of Malta is styled His Most Eminent Highness. I maintain the Popes jurisdiction goes as far as it does in any country whose monarch is Catholic. If I recall correctly it was once custom that election as pope required the assent of the Holy Roman Emperor... the last Pope was Pius X and the Austrians tried to block his election. Francis needs to pull his head in and behave properly. Not set people up like a South American dictator who surrounds himself with cronies.

As longtime readers we- the rather traditional catholic german blog "Beiboot Petri" often refer to your articles. Especially now to "Papal Power 1 & 2" -and with great pleasure Would you allow us to translate them into german and -with due links to liturgical notes- to let them be read in the "Beiboot"?Mr. Sandro Magister f.i. gave us his consent to do that with his comments.

Off-topic but Important. According to lifesite news the Anglican Ordinariate in the USA have issued a document in respect of Amoris Laetitia which is entirely orthodox and in stark contrast to that out of Malta. Will the Anglican Ordinariate in England do the same? I do hope so and quickly. What would the Bishops's Conference of England & Wales do then. Fireworks in prospect?

In the Final, the Kickbutts will face the winner of the game between the Fab Four and the Vatican Vices. The Vices have so far advanced on Byes because no one else would take them on. However, the Four and the Kickbutts have already announced that if they are the contestants in the Final, which is likely as the Vices are flabby and thought to have a bad attitude, there will be a Jubilee Year, a Solemn Pontifical Mass according to the usus antiquior in each of the Pontifical Basilicas of Rome, and universal ad orientem celebration of the Mass in all forms.

Fr John Hunwicke

was for nearly three decades at Lancing College; where he taught Latin and Greek language and literature, was Head of Theology, and Assistant Chaplain. He has served three curacies, been a Parish Priest, and Senior Research Fellow at Pusey House in Oxford. Since 2011, he has been in full communion with the See of S Peter. The opinions expressed on this Blog are not asserted as being those of the Magisterium of the Church, but as the writer's opinions as a private individual. Nevertheless, the writer strives, hopes, and prays that the views he expresses are conformable with and supportive of the Magisterium. In this blog, the letters PF stand for Pope Francis.